No Room For Animal Houses On Campus

You'd think the Blutos at Pi Kappa Alpha at UConn would get the message: Animal House really is over.

The fraternity was already on probation for alleged bullying and sexist and racist slurs when it held two parties with alcohol last fall, in violation of the rules. UConn has now revoked recognition of the fraternity for four years.

Good riddance. Fraternities and sororities are unhealthy anachronisms, throwbacks to the bad old days of elitist exclusion at colleges and universities, and petri dishes for dangerous behavior. They don't belong on any campus preparing students for a global, inclusive, tolerant society.

In the past year, five other fraternities and sororities at UConn have been sanctioned for misconduct, including hazing and providing alcohol to minors. Earlier this month, the Kappa Sigma fraternity was put on probation for illegal possession of alcohol.

UConn is hardly alone. Yale, Wesleyan, Trinity — just about every campus that allows fraternities and sororities has tales of Greek woe, from lawsuits to ambulance visits to harmful publicity.

A University of Connecticut fraternity that held two parties while under probation has lost the university's recognition and with it all rights and privileges for at least the next four years.

Pi Kappa Alpha was already on probation for its alleged participation in a dispute last fall at the university's...

A University of Connecticut fraternity that held two parties while under probation has lost the university's recognition and with it all rights and privileges for at least the next four years.

Pi Kappa Alpha was already on probation for its alleged participation in a dispute last fall at the university's...

(KATHLEEN MEGAN)

Last month, Yale banned Sigma Alpha Epsilon until August 2016 for violating the university's sexual misconduct policy at an initiation ceremony and for trying to block the inquiry. SAE was among the fraternities banned at UConn last year over hazing allegations. The University of Oklahoma ended its SAE affiliation earlier this month after a video went viral showing fraternity members chanting racist slurs.

A three-year study in the 1990s found that Greek affiliation had "a significant negative effect on openness to diversity and a challenge for both men and women." (See courant.com/studentdev.) No kidding. Campuses are better off without Greek life.